Artwork title : Hyper-recognizable

What is an image that maximizes the resemblance to something for a non-human observer? In this series we construct images that maximally evoke a particular type of object when viewed by an AI. The result is not a depiction of an instance of an object but rather a mosaic of features that maximize the sensation and recognizability of a particular type or category of objects. In the process we can give expression to the similarities and differences between human and non-human perceptual systems as well as the discrepancy between recognizability and realism.

The enforced tessellated pattern causes the machine (and human observers) to isolate a particular scale of features and implies an optimal distance of viewing at which the image becomes most recognizable, creating a moment of clarity as the viewer moves towards or away from the image.

The images are laser-engraved on copper plates. The metallic substrate is there to further destabilize the perception of a fixed corporeal object and rather along with the symmetry highlight the perfection and unreality of such a visual signal.

Work info

Title: Hyper-recognizable [an ostrich, a loudspeaker, a poodle and a pill-bottle]

Size: 150mm x150mm x 4

Media: Laser engraving on 0.5mm thick copper plates

Year: 2022